Girl Talk
by antimoony
Summary: "Mr. Mustang, please don't enter. I believe I am dying." Little Riza Hawkeye didn't know why she was bleeding... but Roy knew. Innocent Young!Royai and Royai.


A/N.: Fluff, so much fluff. Feel free to correct any wrongs, criticize, send me love.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the feels!

* * *

He was awaking of his famous after-lunch nap when she entered the living room. He observed her with the clouded eyes of a person that just woke up, and wondered how beautiful she was, and how comfortable she was around him. That, of course, made him proud: Riza Hawkeye was rarely comfortable around other people, but this was just one of the numerous things about her that just he was able to notice, those little quirks of her betraying nothing of her feelings. Even her sighs meant a lot to him, and he took years – decades? - to crack her codes. His mind went back to those days when he knew nothing but the fact that she arouse a great amount of curiosity on him.

When he started his apprenticeship under Berthold Hawkeye, he was just a 13 years old boy, one of those few in this age that didn't think he knew everything. No, he was perfectly aware that he had so much to learn… and learn was exactly why he was there, in the first place.

The first months at Hawkeye's was nothing but profitable, and soon he started to get – and the world had to give him that – really good in alchemy, literature, chemistry, physics, biology and a bunch of other stuff he didn't even think he needed to know at that time. Although, even if he had learned lots of amazing stuff he never dreamed learning, he had little knowledge about one little thing that kept silently wandering through the house.

Well, he got the chance to befriend the blond haired girl, at least in some level. After some time she even started to accept his offers of helping with the chores, and this was a good sign for him. Yeah, he knew some things about her, but was also sure it was just the tip of a deep and mysterious iceberg. Riza was a quiet and efficient girl; she liked things other girls he knew would hate. She loved to read, was really smart and liked her tea with no sugar. He knew she had lost her mother when she was really young, just like him. He knew she didn't have any friends, thanks to Master's reputation around their little village: a crazy man that used some kind of witchcraft and sacrificed her wife in order to have power (or something like that).

But that was one of the few things he knew, and he had admitted to himself he found her a rather interesting girl. He wanted to know more and he wanted her to trust him, but didn't know why. How to take Riza of her shell was beyond him, at that time. But, if you asked him today when their mutual trust really began to grow, he would know exactly what to say.

* * *

 _It was past midnight and he was struggling to deal with a paper Master asked, when he heard noises coming from the next door. Master wasn't at home, for he needed to travel to the borders of East City – something about gathering materials for his experiments. He would spend three more days out, and left Roy an incredible amount of researches. So, the only person who could be doing the noises was Riza – or at least he hoped it was her. He laid his pen down and begun to listen intently, as her footsteps moved from the bathroom to her room, and back again. She was never one to sleep late… was she ok?_

 _Twenty minutes later, after hearing her footsteps passing in front of his room again, Roy decided to see what was happening with the girl. He went straight to her room, knocking the door and waiting for some response._

 _"…Riza? Are you okay? May I come in?"_

 _After some seconds, she answered with a shaky voice._

 _"Mr. Mustang, please don't enter. I believe I am dying."_

 _His face went pale as a sheet of paper. Moving forward, he entered the room, facing an almost 11 years old Riza Hawkeye on the floor. She was holding her legs together, her little face hidden behind her knees._

 _"Riza, what do you mean? Are you in pain?" he said as he sat down next to her._

 _She nodded and whispered back:_

 _"I'm in pain and I am bleeding…"_

 _He looked around, still in panic, but there was no blood to be seen anywhere._

 _"Where do you bleed?"_

 _She didn't answer and he insisted._

 _"Where does it hurt, Riza?"_

 _"My stomach…"_

 _When she lifted her head, he could see that she was crying._

 _"Mommy died the same way, Mr. Mustang… I don't want you to see me dying…"_

 _He never knew how her mother had died, after all. So, the logical thing to do was to ask._

 _"Riza, it's okay. I got you. But I need to know what is happening so I can help, right? How did you mom died?"_

 _She sighed in a strange quiet way, as if she was trying not to breathe - a thing she did a lot when under stress, he would learn. After some moments, she rubbed her eyes as she spoke._

 _"She was going to have a baby … but one day she was bleeding a lot, and then the doctor came, but she couldn't make the baby and died…"_

 _Oh._

 _"I-I saw her and it is almost the same thin-" her head returned to its safe place behind her knees as she continued to cry._

 _And then, just then, came up to him that she never had a figure who would talk about these stuff with her. She had no mother, and her father wasn't exactly present. She had no other relatives at all. She had no friends. So, she was a smart a girl comparing to other girls, but she knew little about life outside this house, beyond her chores. Anyone had never told her how her body worked and, being alone, she would have to learn it by herself or by school. Roy was always surrounded by dozens of women, and he knew exactly what was happening with her. It was unfair, so unfair. Maybe he would bring her to Central next time he went home._

 _"Look, Riza, it's okay. What is happening right now with you, it always happens sooner or later."_

 _"… dying?"_

 _"Yes…_ _ **NO**. Not dying, you are not dying right now. This bleeding is only your body telling you that you are ready to have a baby if you and a guy want."_

 _"… I don't understand, Mr. Mustang."_

 _"Yeah, look, you'll learn about it at school really soon. You don't have to worry about that right now, what you need to know is that there's nothing wrong with you. It's natural, it's part of your life, of every girl life. This is going to happen every month for you, starting now. It comes, and then you get grumpy, it hurts, you bleed for a week, and it goes away."_

 _"… am I going to bleed and feel pain for one week per month for the rest of my life, now?"_

 _"Well… more and less. Almost the rest of your life, yes..."_

 _"I don't like."_

 _"No girl does, apparently. My sisters always say that it's a pain in the ass, but it's not all bad, you know? I mean, do you want to be a mom someday?"_

 _"Yes, I do… really much."_

 _He looked her big brown eyes, still shining with tears, and smiled._

 _"So, one day you'll be able to. It's amazing, actually, how it works. Soon, you'll learn everything there is to learn."_

 _"And what do I do about the bleeding?"_

 _"Hum, about that… there is a thing women use for it. Tomorrow I'll go to the market and I'll buy you some. Are you still in pain?"_

 _"A little…"_

 _"My sisters use to warm towels and put on their bellies to ease it. I'll warm some, ok?"_

 _She nodded quietly and, before he left, she held his hands in one of hers, using her free to rub her tears again._

 _"Thank you so much, Mr. Mustang. Please, don't tell anyone, don't tell dad… can I trust you?"_

 _He grinned in response._

 _"Of course you can. You can trust me whenever you need, for whatever reason. After all, we are friends, right?"_

* * *

"Roy?"

She was looking him with amusement. Of course she was, he was smiling to her like an idiot. So much had happened since those days. She had trusted him so many times and in so many ways… if he only knew how much that simple "you can trust me" would mean.

He had betrayed her trust. He had done horrible things. She did them as well. They had gone to hell more than once, but they came back alive. There were tears and worries and secret glances and mutual miss, there were fraternization laws and loss of friends and battles and hospital bills. Lots and lots of hospital bills.

But then, there was so much goodness. Even on the worst case scenario, the trust remained and became stronger. Forgiveness and hope and dreams remained and became stronger. There was a never-ending love that endured any circumstances they had faced. They fought and fight to build a better place for the next generations, even if they couldn't undo those bad things they did. They would ensure it wouldn't happen again.

She walked to the couch and he helped her ease next to him, supporting her back. She slowly touched her back in his chest, as his hands rested on top of her swollen belly.

And he knew their children would have a better life.


End file.
